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Posts Tagged as‘vision’

The announcement that the man who brought us the incredibly innovative Macintosh computer, iPod, iPhone, and iPad would no longer be at the helm at Apple has caused a near collective groan across the universe. There was a disturbance in the Force.

Yesterday, Steve Jobs announced that he would no longer be Apple's CEO due to health reasons. By now you've no doubt seen or read the news stories filled with (justifiable) superlatives being bestowed upon Jobs: Innovative. Brilliant. Creative. Charismatic. And many, many more. They also mention his other side. Vitriolic. Taskmaster. Controlling. But there's one key superlative that stands out: Visionary.

Why is that one word so important to the success of Apple?

Whether you run a company or a division, or even a department, a leader has to have a clear idea of where they want their people to be marching. In the early days of the highly competitive computer industry, Apple wasn't taken seriously by its competitors. However, Jobs was able to chart a vision for the organization. One that gave it an identity and a purpose: Be Different. It was simple and clear, but it spoke volumes to the organization, giving them the confidence to explore and to create some of the most innovative and revolutionary technologies of our time.

Today, Apple's competitors not only take Apple seriously, they're straining to catch up as Apple speeds by them. With Job's leadership, Apple has grown to become one of the most exciting, interesting, and, of course, profitable companies in the world, supported by a near-religious following of customers.

That's what vision does for leadership; it gives the team direction, and helps them to focus on understanding what it really takes to get the job done. It inspires. It creates. Like the player on a team who makes others around him better, vision helps make everyone see the same picture - clearly.

If you're a manager, a department head, and especially if you're a CEO, take a moment to reflect on what your organization's vision is. Is it clear? Is it understandable? Does it inspire?

The biggest lesson that today's business can learn from Steve Jobs is not just that he was innovative and driven. His brilliance was in how he used his vision to inspire other people to be innovative and driven. And in the end, when everyone shares it, good things happen.